If you can, forget the fact that Green Day’s “21st Century Breakdown,” released today, is supposed to be a rock opera styled in much the same vein as 2004’s blockbuster smash “American Idiot.” Because honestly, that’s the weakest part of the album.
What made “American Idiot” work, even through the patchy moments, was the overall cohesiveness of the material. Sure, it didn’t always make sense as a linear story in the strictest sense, but musically it all worked, from the two nine-plus minute song suites that bookended the record, to the power ballads “Boulevard of Broken Dreams” and “Wake Me Up When September Ends” (although both were overplayed on radio).
Back then, the band was mostly known for snotty, humorous rants, not political conceit, which lent a sense of progression and adventure to “American Idiot” that are sorely lacking on “21st Century Breakdown.” By churning out another rock opera that is basically just a retread of “American Idiot” in spirit and construction, they’re really just taking the easy way out. It doesn’t help that the story is even more convoluted this time, and the characters of Christian and Gloria could be switched out at any time for “Idiot’s” St. Jimmy and Jesus of Suburbia. In other words, “Idiot” challenged the band’s audience; “21st Century” spoon-feeds it.
For me, the album automatically gets knocked down a few pegs because of this, regardless of how good the music is. Which is a shame, because “21st Century’s” best songs are quite possibly the best of the band’s career.
These are the tracks that push the band’s sound in ways that haven’t been done since the group’s much maligned yet excellent “Warning” in 2000 — “Peacemaker” brings gypsy and Latin elements a la Gogol Bordello, while “Restless Heart Syndrome” builds from a Husker Du piano intro into a slow burning rocker with some of Billie Joe Armstrong’s finest guitar playing yet. The title track, while staying a little too close to The Who and Queen for the comfort of some, works wonderfully, and gracefully switches moods in a way that “Idiot’s” “Jesus of Suburbia” song suite never quite managed.
Conversely, the filler is some of the worst material this band has recorded. While numbers such as “¡Viva la Gloria!” and “Christian’s Inferno” are merely dull, straightforward pop-punk, lead single “Know Your Enemy” is insulting in its simplistic lyrics and even simpler melody, coming across as the song “American Idiot’s” annoying cousin. “21 Guns” is an inferior rewrite of “Boulevard of Broken Dreams.” Another ballad, “Last Night on Earth,” sounds like the kind of embarrassing pop drivel that punk was originally a rebellion against.
At 18 tracks in 70 minutes, the album far overstays its welcome, in much the same way the group’s 1997 record “Nimrod” did. In fact, “21st Century” may be closer to “Nimrod” than any other in the band’s catalog, despite its slavish conformity to the “American Idiot” template. But like “Nimrod,” “21st Century’s” high points are well worth the purchase.
But before you buy it, I’d recommend picking up the latest Meat Puppets album, “Sewn Together.” Released this past Tuesday, the record is the group’s second since reforming in 2006, and finds the band recapturing its ’80s spirit (if not sound).
This seminal cowpunk group released a string of classic albums during hardcore punk’s heyday, including “Meat Puppets II,” from which Kurt Cobain drew three songs for Nirvana’s Unplugged performance in 1993. But bassist Cris Kirkwood’s drug problems forced the original trio to call it quits after 1995’s disappointing “No Joke,” which failed to capitalize on the momentum gained from the Nirvana connection and the fluke success of 1994’s “Backwater” single off the album “Too High to Die.”
Thankfully, the name of that record proved true. Siblings Curt and Cris, along with new drummer Ted Marcus, reconvened for 2007’s “Rise to Your Knees.” That album found the band struggling to reconnect with what made it great — the melodies lacked focus, Curt’s guitar playing lacked the usual country-fried psychedelic wonders of old and the band as a whole sounded a bit lost, as if they hadn’t jammed together at all before deciding to hit the studio.
After listening to “Sewn Together,” I’d guess that to be true. Now the band has the benefit of two years of solid touring under its belt. Marcus and Cris have fully integrated into a tight rhythm section now, and Curt is back to writing strong songs with such standouts as “Blanket of Weeds” and the extended jam “Rotten Shame.” While nowhere near classics like 1985’s “Up on the Sun,” it betters “Too High to Die” on many occasions, with closing gem “Love Mountain” being perhaps their first bona fide classic track since the ’80s.
This is the album the band needed to make as its reunion comeback. I missed them during their initial reunion shows, something I’m still kicking myself for today, especially when my uncle bragged over Christmas last year about how great they were in Boston when he saw them. I’ll definitely be making the trek out to see them this time around, no matter how far I have to travel to do it.
